Fortescue dredging to start on Wed.

Christie OK'd $300,000 in funding for the emergency operation

Aug. 16, 2013

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Emergency dredging operation on the navigation channel into Fortescue could begin as early as Wednesday, with a larger dredging operation to start in October.

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DOWNE — New Jersey is shelling out $300,000 to the township for an emergency dredging operation on the navigation channel into Fortescue, according to state and local officials.

Gov. Chris Christie cleared the aid this week from state Department of Transportation funds. More DOT money is promised for a much larger dredging operation expected to start in October, too.

Mayor Robert Campbell said the township emailed a funding application and related paperwork to Trenton on Friday for transportation department review. State and federal permitting already was in place.

“Hopefully, they won’t have a problem,” he said. “I’ll know Monday.”

Campbell said an agreement with a dredging company already is signed and work could start as early as Wednesday. The Township Committee is to hold a special meeting on the project at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, who announced the aid on Thursday, praised the governor for acting on a situation that went from a regular inconvenience last fall to a clear threat to both commerce and public safety.

“In any event, we’re going to continue that fight and the governor has been a good partner,” he added. “I want to thank the governor because we were all in a corner with nowhere to go. This is by no means the entire finished project, but this will at least give them some short-term relief.”

Dredging is needed every several years on the channel due to normal silting. Another round of dredging effort has been under review with DEP for about two years.

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According to local officials and boat owners, the hurricane last summer forced large amounds of sand into the channel and made the shoaling problem much worse.

Boats have had to work their departures and arrivals, as well as trips to a fueling dock, around high tide to avoid groundings. It remains possible to get into the port but increasingly more difficult.

Mike Rothman, captain of the Bonanza II fishing boat, said the shoaling impeded an emergency medical response earlier this month.

A boat on the bay reported a possible cardiac emergency with a passenger. The U.S. Coast Guard and a local rescue boat responded, and the rescue boat headed with the man into Fortescue.

Rothman said a sandbar that comes within several feet of the surface snagged the rescue boat, though it eventually got past it.

“This is a very dangerous situation,” Van Drew said. “One is commerce — people have to make a living. The other is public safety — the Coast Guard and Marine Police can’t get in and out.”

“I give a lot of credit to Sen. Van Drew,” Rothman said. “ He pushed and pushed. He and Mayor Campbell stayed on top of this and didn’t forget about us.”

Rothman is cautious about cleebrating, though. “Again, it hasn’t started yet,” he said.

DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said the DOT funds will be passed through his department. The DEP will issue bid requests “in the near future” for the fall dredging operation, he said.

In the short term, the dredging that starts next week will pump out an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 cubic yards of material from the channel bottom. The work is estimated to take about three weeks.

The target is a sandbar — locals call it the “hump” — that is 120 feet wide and juts from the mouth of the channel into the bay for about 700 feet.

Campbell said the dredge will remove from 3 feet to 5 feet of material, a mix of sand and silt, and pump it on the beach south of the inlet. The dredge will cover an area 100 feet across, not the entire 120-foot width.

This fall, the mayor said, dredging will proceed out another 1,500 to 2,000 feet across an area 120 feet in width. More than 100,000 cubic yards of material probably will be excavated, he said.

“That’s scheduled for the first week of October,” Campbell said. “We’re done with the permitting.” Campbell said that material will help replace a seawall swept away last fall.

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